Shincheonji Church of Jesus begins sermons given by laymen during ‘Wednesday worship service’… First among domestic and international churches

A systematic process of education on Revelation, ‘turning all church members into pastors’

‘I want to try preaching in the worship service’ – increase in the number of applicants

Starting on July 19, the 78 churches nationwide of Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Chairman Lee Man-hee, hereinafter referred to as Shincheonji Church of Jesus) have allowed regular church members instead of educators and other workers to stand as preachers during their weekly Wednesday worship service. This is the realization of ‘Turning all saints into pastors’ which Shincheonji Church of Jesus has been shouting since its foundation and this is the first time it has been done among the churches here and abroad.

These are regular church members who have no experience in preaching or lecturing and they vary from people in their teens to their 70s. It is especially worthy of note that they fluently preached on the book of Revelation which even pastors with tens of years of experience are reluctant to do.

Jang Sae-hyeon (72, male), who preached during the Wednesday worship service in the Shincheonji Tongyeong Church on the 26th said, “I usually studied through the Revelation seminar videos on YouTube but the ’10-minute Revelation Speech’ materials that were provided for all the church members were especially helpful and it’s the reason why I was able to preach well.” He added, “I am more confident now after preaching. I hope we will have more opportunities like this.”

There is also a church member who preached during the Wednesday worship service after entering Shincheonji Church of Jesus 3 years and 5 months ago. Lee Eun-ji (28, female) of Shincheonji Dongdaemun Church said, “After entering the church, I had to attend the worship service online because of COVID-19 but I have been studying during my spare time thinking that I will one day have to be a pastor (priest). I am grateful because I understood Revelation more through preaching.”

Bae Won-young (54, male) who started his faith life at the age of 7 and entered Shincheonji Church of Jesus in his late 40’s said, “I had a great desire to be the first to do it. Preaching in the worship service was a time for me to fully understand the book of Revelation and it made me confident that the word has been inscribed in my mind and in my heart.”

Other church members who also preached during the worship service shared that, “It gave me confidence that even laymen can do it as long as I have the word” and “I felt very blessed while preparing the sermon. I hope other members can also rise up to the challenge with a joyful heart.”

Lee Ji-yeon, the head of Shincheonji Church of Jesus General Assembly’s Ministry of Education, shared that “The members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, from young children all the way to the seniors, have mastered the Bible and are doing the ‘sealing confirmation lecture’ as evidence of this. Many church members are applying to do the preaching so we are trying to figure out the sequence. There is no denomination other than Shincheonji Church of Jesus where the members have mastered Revelation and can even give a lecture about it.”

_{Source: Digital News Department dtnews@dt.co.kr}